This homemade birthday cake ice cream is a super fun treat made with confetti cake mix, chunks of frosted birthday cupcakes, and sprinkles. Turn the classic celebration cake on it's head with this party cake ice cream!
Right before the ice cream base finishes churning in an ice cream maker, you add chopped birthday cupcakes and sprinkles. Use store bought cupcakes or bake a batch of these rainbow sprinkle confetti cupcakes beforehand. Get ready to make the ultimate cake flavoured treat!
Ingredients
Ingredient Notes
- Cupcakes: make your own or use store bought. We use mini cupcakes for the higher frosting to cake ratio.
- 35% fat whipping cream: also called heavy cream. If what's available to you is more like 33% or 37%, that'll work too.
- Confetti cake mix: sometimes branded as Funfetti, rainbow bit, or rainbow chip cake mix. Make sure to cook it first, heating to 160°F.
- Bakery emulsion: we use the LorAnn brand bakery emulsions (not sponsored we just like them) and chose the butter-vanilla flavour for this recipe. Bakery emulsions can be found in stores with well-stocked baking sections and online.
- Jimmies sprinkles: jimmies are the tiny bar-shaped sprinkles, commonly served with ice cream.
Ingredient Substitutions
- Cupcakes: you can use standard-size cupcakes, or pieces of actual cake.
- Whipping cream: 18% coffee cream is a decent substitute for whipping cream.
- Cake mix: you can use any cake mix you want. Yellow cake mix is a good swap for confetti.
- Butter-vanilla bakery emulsion: butter, cream cheese, or vanilla bakery emulsions all help mimic classic birthday cake flavour. You can also do a straight 1:1 substitute of vanilla extract.
Method
Step 1: cut the cupcakes into bite sized pieces and store them in an airtight container in the freezer. Pour the cream and milk into a medium-sized pot and heat until steamy.
Step 2: while the cream is heating, add the egg yolks and sugar to a mixing bowl and whisk until creamy and and the whisk leaves ribbony tracks in the mixture.
Step 3: dip a small measuring cup into the hot cream and fill it up about halfway. With one hand whisking the egg yolks, use the other hand to slowly dribble hot cream into the bowl. Pour the egg-cream mixture back into the pot of hot cream and cook to 170ºF (77ºC).
Step 4: strain the custard into a clean mixing bowl through a fine mesh sieve.
Step 5: whisk the cake mix and bakery emulsion into the custard. Cover and chill the custard base for 8 hours or overnight.
Step 6: once chilled, churn the custard in an ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s directions. Stop the ice cream maker 5 minutes before the ice cream is finished churning and add the frozen cupcake pieces and jimmies sprinkles. Freeze for 8 hours before scooping and serving.
Top Tips
1. Use a hand mixer if you have one to prevent arm fatigue.
2. Buy insulated ice cream tubs for better texture once frozen. Insulated ice cream tubs can be found easily online, and sometimes at stores like Marshalls.
3. Thaw the birthday cake ice cream for 10-15 minutes before scooping.
Recipe Notes
Use a standard loaf tin if you don’t have insulated ice cream tubs. Note the ice cream may freeze rock hard in a loaf tin, requiring a longer thaw before scooping.
You can use any flavour of cake mix and/or cupcakes you want.
If you're not familiar with bakery emulsions, they're artificial flavourings, similar to extracts, but with richer, stronger flavour. In Canada, bakery emulsions can be found at Bulk Barn or Michaels. You can also buy them online.
FAQ
What is the flavour of birthday cake ice cream?
Birthday cake ice cream tastes like a cross between rich decadent vanilla ice cream and vanilla cake with frosting. Don't forget the sprinkles!
How do you make ice cream?
Ice cream is essentially a cooked egg custard that's chilled in an ice cream maker after cooling and then kept frozen. Homemade ice cream at its most basic level is made with heavy cream, milk, sugar, and a flavouring such as vanilla extract.
What can you serve birthday cake ice cream with?
Birthday cake ice cream is, of course, terrific served with birthday cake, but it's also great on slices of warm pie, bowls of fruit crisp, or by itself in a dish topped with sprinkles!
More Ice Cream Recipes
If you make this Sprinkle Ice Cream or any other dessert recipes on the Baked Collective, please take a moment to rate the recipe and leave a comment below. It’s such a help to others who want to try the recipe. For more baking, follow along on Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube.
Birthday Cake Ice Cream
Equipment
- Measuring cups and spoons or digital kitchen scale
- Medium sized pot
- Wooden spoon or rubber spatula
- 2 Mixing bowls
- Hand mixer or whisk
- Fine mesh strainer
- Ice cream maker
- Insulated ice cream tubs or standard loaf tin and aluminum foil
Ingredients
- 5 mini frosted cupcakes or 2 standard size cupcakes
- 2 cups 35% whipping cream
- 1 cup whole milk
- 6 large egg yolks
- ½ cup sugar
- ½ cup confetti cake mix sometimes called Funfetti or rainbow bit
- 2 teaspoons butter-vanilla bakery emulsion or vanilla extract
- 2 tablespoons jimmies rainbow sprinkles or any other rainbow sprinkles
Instructions
- Cut the cupcakes into bite sized pieces then store them in an airtight container in the freezer.
- Pour the cream and milk into a medium-sized pot. Warm the mixture over medium-low heat until steamy, then reduce the heat.
- While the cream is heating, add the egg yolks and sugar to a mixing bowl. Whisk together until creamy, smooth, and the whisk leaves ribbony tracks in the mixture. Stabilize the bowl so it won’t slide around (a wet dishcloth spread out underneath works well).
- Dip a ½ cup measuring cup into the hot cream mixture and fill it up. With one hand constantly whisking the egg yolks, use the other hand to slowly dribble hot cream into the bowl. Once all of the hot cream has been whisked into the egg yolks, the yolks are now tempered, meaning, brought up to the temperature of the cream.
- Pour the tempered egg mixture into the pot of hot cream. Raise the heat to medium and cook the custard to 170ºF (77ºC). Remove the custard from the heat.
- Strain the custard into a clean mixing bowl or other container through a fine mesh sieve. Whisk the confetti cake mix and butter-vanilla emulsion into the custard.
- Cover the top of the custard with a piece of parchment paper cut to fit to prevent a skin from forming. Cool at room temperature for one hour then place in the fridge to chill for 8 hours or overnight.
- Once chilled, churn the custard in an ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s directions. Stop the ice cream maker 5 minutes before the ice cream is finished churning and add the frozen cupcake pieces and the jimmies sprinkles.
- Churn the ice cream for 5 minutes more, then transfer it to an insulated ice cream container or standard loaf tin. Cover the container and freeze the ice cream for 6 to 8 hours before scooping and serving.
Notes
- Insulated ice cream tubs can be found easily online, and sometimes at stores like Marshalls.
- Use a standard loaf tin if you don’t have insulated ice cream tubs. Note the ice cream may freeze rock hard in a loaf tin, requiring a longer thaw before scooping.
- You can use any flavour of cake mix and/or cupcakes you want.